Wednesday, November 03, 2010

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The executive director of the Hamilton County Democratic Party says poll workers are being forced to pony up 8%. The checks are written on an account Democrats have at Fifth Third Bank. Caleb Faux compared the check cashing fee to legalized larceny: "It's basically the bank stealing money.'' Sofar, the local Democratic Party in Cincinnati has written 200 checks on its account, each for $100. Faux said poll workers who go to Fifth Third branches and don't have accounts at Fifth Third are being given $92 on a $100 check. He said the party has its money in that bank.

"What entitles Fifth Third to take 8% out of their money off the top? This is outrageous. The poll workers worked about twelve and a half hours Tuesday standing out in the cold. They earned the money. They participated in the process. They are good citizens. Some of them are poor people. They need every penny. The check should be a piece of paper that entitles them to walk into Fifth Third and walk out with a hundred bucks. That's what they got paid. I think we'll have to move our accounts. We're not a big account, but there are a lot of Democrats. The bank's fee is just not fair. It's arrogant to impose a fee on a check drawn at the bank."

Fifth Third took $3.4 billion in federal government bailout funds from TARP, which was passed in the waning months of President George W. Bush's administration. The Cincinnati-based banking company says it hopes to have a plan in place later this year to repay the bailout money.